Today I watched a security camera suite, that was sold on Amazon
for $350, go for over $17.50 (indicating 1750 bids, potentially
@$.60 per bid). I don't know the exact bid because I was timed
out from the site after 30 minutes in the final 10-sec mode.
Ken
---------------------------------------------------------------
Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [email protected]
Professor
Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608
USA
---------------------------------------------------------------
On 1/7/2012 1:47 PM, Paul C Bernhardt wrote:
While easy to admire the business model and psychological
tools being employed, it has a poor reputation among those
giving feedback on the site. Honestly, it seems likely that
they could have hired persons to boost bids (which is
certainly unethical and usually illegal).
Check out this evaluation site. (I run an app in my browser
that checks sites against these ratings to warn me of scams,
etc.)
http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/quibids.com
Paul C. Bernhardt Department of Psychology Frostburg State
University Frostburg, Maryland
-----Original Message----- From: Rick Froman
[mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sat 1/7/2012 12:46 PM To:
Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE:
[tips] Social Psych example
I saw it as an amazing refinement on the simple dollar auction
(bidding for a dollar) where both the winner and the second
place bidder have to pay. In this case, all of the bidders
have to pay and they pay before the bidding has begun so they
don't have to be bothered with the feeling that they are
spending money during the auction. They are just consuming
something (bids) they have already bought. Bids are limited to
increments of one cent so it increases the number of bids.
This also makes it impossible for a winner not to end up
paying what they bid. The site even provides helpful
information on starting small with bids that are more likely
to win therefore providing customers with initial successes
(reinforcement) that might tend to immunize them from the
later experiences of not winning (partial reinforcement
extinction effect instead of consistent punishment).
And, although dollar auctions can provide some return on an
investment over a dollar, it would be dwarfed, as Ken Steele
shows, by the profit margin on quibids.com. If you are
fortunate enough to win a bid, you may get it for less than it
would cost at retail but the site makes (from all bidders)
much more than they could get from retail. In this sense, it
makes it seem similar to gambling where someone (and certainly
"the house") in this case makes (or saves) a lot of money
while many spend a lot of money for no tangible benefit. It
certainly fits with the "I'm hooked" comment by one excited
and satisfied user.
Rick
Dr. Rick Froman, Chair Division of Humanities and Social
Sciences John Brown University Siloam Springs, AR 72761
[email protected] ________________________________________ From:
Michael Britt [[email protected]] Sent: Saturday,
January 07, 2012 5:31 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological
Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Social Psych example
Rick,
I discovered quibids a while back and it is an interesting
site. I haven't participated in it, but I noticed they now
have commercials on TV so it must be gaining in popularity.
The connections to psych I saw with it were in the area of
Cialdini's influence principle of scarcity - if buyers doesn't
act quickly enough they'll "lose out on an incredible price"
kind of thing.
There's also an excitement about the site. Things are moving
really quickly. Not sure where that aspect of it fits into
psychology. What principles of social psych did you see in
it?
Michael A. Britt, Ph.D. [email protected]
http://www.ThePsychFiles.com Twitter: mbritt
On Dec 31, 2011, at 10:56 AM, Rick Froman wrote:
I just found this website (quibids - I didn't provide a
clickable link in case it would be blocked as spam - just
add .com to the end of the name) and thought it would make a
great example for anyone teaching Social Psychology. I don't
suggest actually participating in it. I do think it is quite
interesting in the number of Social Psychological principles
applied in its operation. Its almost like someone created it
as a term project in Social Psychology. I think it is funny
that one of the comments on the site included the term, "I'm
hooked!" in a positive way.
Rick
Dr. Rick Froman, Chair Division of Humanities and Social
Sciences John Brown University Siloam Springs, AR 72761
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
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